It seems those ancient artists and historians were familiar with the insidious art of airbrushing! Perhaps they preferred to make Cleopatra a sexy trollop, rather than a philosopher, because it felt a whole lot safer that way!

Born at a time when Jews and Christians lived together in harmony under Muslim rule, the young Maimonides was forced to flee from a fanatical religious dynasty to pursue a turbulent but productive life in medieval Egypt.

Philosopher and Natural Scientist Thales believed that water gave birth to the Cosmos and that matter itself was a living thing, a theory he ‘proved’ through the properties of the simple magnet and of amber.

Santayana believed in celebrating life in all its aspects, but his anti-idealistic views on love, sex and beauty remained stuck in aesthetics and failed to grasp the value and meaning of genuine human bonding.